No official confirmation yet, but if true, it will top the $51,111,111 sum that the Red Sox paid for exclusive negotiating rights to right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka back in November of 2006. They ended up agreeing to a six-year, $52 million contract.

The Rangers now have 30 days to work out a contract with Darvish. The 25-year-old right-hander is believed to be seeking a five-year deal in the range of $75 million, which could push the total investment north of $120 million. He is represented stateside by agent Arn Tellem.

Darvish went 18-7 with a career-low 1.44 ERA and a 276/36 K/BB ratio in 232 innings this season with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters. Standing at 6-foot-5 and 185 pounds, he has a 1.99 career ERA over seven seasons in Japan.

The Rangers were considered one of the front-runners for Darvish all along, as general manager Jon Daniels scouted him in person this past season. If the two sides can work out a deal, Darvish will join a rotation which is set to include some combination of Derek Holland, Colby Lewis, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison and Alexi Ogando.

No word on how close the Blue Jays were to the Rangers’ bid, but it will be interesting to see where they go from here. They are loaded with prospects, so they could pursue either Matt Garza or Gio Gonzalez via trade. And who knows, perhaps they could make a run at free agent first baseman Prince Fielder.

Yesterday the Mets announced that lefty Jason Vargas sustained a non-displaced fracture of the hamate bone in his right hand as the result of a comebacker during a spring training start. This morning they announced that Vargas will have surgery, which should cause him to miss the first week or so of the season.

Vargas will have the surgery tomorrow. Given that it’s on his non-throwing hand, he won’t miss much time — just a week or so of action, with another few days to get back up to speed afterward. He actually threw a bullpen session this morning. The issue is that he can’t catch a ball right now.

Vargas, 35, signed a two-year, $16 million pact with the Mets last month. With him missing a couple of starts, the Mets should break camp with both Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler in the rotation. The two had been fighting for the final spot.